


These Raging Rivers

by Mysana



Series: Naruto Short Fics [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Generation Swap, Older Sasuke, younger itachi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 10:36:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14591190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysana/pseuds/Mysana
Summary: When Itachi is born, Sasuke looks at his little brother and loves him.Age Swap AU





	These Raging Rivers

Itachi is five and Sasuke is 12, the grumbles of the Uchiha clan start to become… more. It takes Sasuke a few days to catch on, he’s a fresh chunin and his first B-rank mission goes… badly. (It’s a really good thing Uzumaki heals so quickly.) Then one night Father asks for Sasuke. Call him to the study.

Father never calls Sasuke to his study. (Sasuke has never been the Uchiha heir his father wanted. Too emotional. Smart, but not smart enough. Sasuke has learned that he respects his Mother far more than his Father.)

“There is a clan meeting tomorrow. You will be called to speak about the indignities you suffered as part of your genin team.” Sasuke almost laughs. Not quite, but almost. His genin team was a joke. But it wasn’t a joke on the _Uchiha_. Anyone could see that Hatake wasn’t fit to be a jounin instructor and that Uzumaki needed another year in the academy _at least_. (The less said about Haruno the better.)

“Yes Father,” Sasuke says, because the floor around the corner just squeaked which means Sasuke needs to chase Itachi back into bed.

Father looks at Sasuke with eyes that he can only describe at fathomless. It’s almost infuriating, even now Sasuke can’t read Father the way he can almost anyone else. (Why should he want to. As far as Sasuke can tell, Father is made almost purely of falsely self righteous anger and resentment.)

“Itachi is waiting,” Father says, and it’s as much a dismissal of Sasuke as a reproach on Itachi for being heard. (Itachi, who is everything Father wanted in a first child. Respectful, quiet, and so obviously intelligent not even an Inuzuka could miss it.) Sasuke pauses for a split second to wonder what he can do to stop Father from doing his best to ruin Itachi.

“Goodnight,” Sasuke says, opening the door and lifting Itachi into his arms. Itachi isn’t that much smaller, but he’s not too heavy so Sasuke can manage without too much difficultly.

“Sasuke,” Itachi whispers, overly breathy in the way children tend to.

“Yes?”

“What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” Sasuke asks, opening the door to Itachi’s room and trying to bury his own dread. What _is_ happening?

“Father’s been late all week,” Itachi starts, old enough to recognise the pattern but young enough that it’s still indecipherableto him. “And Mother’s been been cooking more than usual and staring out the window.” After a moment he gets even quieter, and Sasuke can barely hear him, “Mother took her sword off the wall and sharpened it.”

“How do you notice so much,” Sasuke asks, mostly faking a smile, “you train so much it’s a wonder you remember to eat, let alone see all these details.” Itachi gives him a _look_. “Don’t worry about it ‘Tachi. It’s not something I want you getting mixed up into, okay?” Sasuke would hope that Father wouldn’t be foolish enough to get Itach involved into is plans. Then again, he wanted Itachi to join the academy this past season. The war’s been over for longer than Itachi’s been alive.

“But I want to help,” Itachi says, looking Sasuke in the eye. Sasuke sets Itachi down onto his bed and allows a few more seconds of eye contact while he thinks about how to say it.

“Please Itachi, don’t get involved. Father is-“ Sasuke isn’t willing to go so far as to disparage their Father in front of him. “-very busy at work and Mother is worried about my mission. The village isn’t always very nice to the Uchiha which can make missions more dangerous.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why isn’t the village nice to the Uchiha?”

“Madara Uchiha was the first missing-nin, and the most famous of the Uchiha.” Sasuke says slowly, because how the Sage is he supposed to explain that the village thinks the Uchiha released the Kyuubi?! “And the Kyuubi was rumoured to be controlled by Madara during his fight with Hashirama-sama.”

“Oh,” Itachi says, “so the village thinks that the Uchiha controlled the Kyuubi during The Attack?”

“Or could’ve stopped it.” Sasuke says, and he _hates_ how helpless he feels, having to explain why Itachi will feel the villagers prejudice once he’s old enough to leave the compound without Mother. (He hates the village for it. He hates Father for it. He hates himself for it.)

“That doesn’t seem very fair.” Itachi says, and Sasuke agrees before giving his a kiss on the forehead and leaving Itachi to read for a few more hours before Mother forces everyone to turn out the lights.

***

Itachi is seven and Sasuke is 14 when Danzo approaches. Sasuke’s been a jounin for just over six months, and if his suspicious are correct then the shadows he’s been feeling are ANBU members checking to see if he’s ready. (He may have shown off a little. Or more than a little.)

“Ah,” Danzo says, as if the fact that Sasuke is _also_ on training ground 13 at 10:30 at night is coincidence, despite the fact that he has had this schedule since he graduated. “Sasuke.” Sasuke does not like Danzo. (Creepy Fucker.) “It’s so good to see a young shinobi training. So many don’t take their jobs seriously enough.” Sasuke does. not. give. a. fuck. He wants to master this damn lightening jutsu before Naru- Uzumaki can show off his new wind jutsu. (Sasuke is not below spying on Uzumaki’s training sessions with Jiraiya.)

“Hn.”

There is a drawn out silence as Danzo watches Sasuke and Sasuke purposefully ignores him without allowing his attention to actually wander.

“You are aware that the Uchiha are treasonous.”

_Fuck._

“Why?”

“You have done nothing?”

“I wouldn’t say that exactly.” Pretty close though. He hadn’t actually thought Father was this stupid. He was wrong it seems. (He thought Mother had it under control.)

Danzo speaks of a massacre. Of obliterating the Uchiha clan. And… some part of Sasuke is tempted. It wouldn’t be that difficult. There’s only two dozen or so jounin level Uchiha, most of them having wasted away as part of the police force. But Itachi. And Shisui. He can’t let them die.

Then Danzo speaks of lenience for Itachi. (For Sasuke to commit the act himself.)

***

Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, and Shisui Uchiha disappear out of Konoha at 3:45 at night. Danzo Shimura and a dozen unknown operatives are found dead on training ground 13. Itachi and Shisui are declared kidnapped and Sasuke a missing-in.

Sasuke regrets nothing.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Lemme know what you think
> 
> I liked writing this so much I made this fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14695290  
> called 'Variation in Interpretation' where other Naruto characters are in the same approximate situation as Itachi, and how they respond. It's only a distant cousin to canon, but I'm finding it good fun.
> 
>  
> 
> [Variation in Interpretation by Mysana](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14695290)


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